This Could Ruin Everything
by blackbirdsheart
Summary: All it took was one moment for everything to change. Barbara isn't ready to admit it yet.


**This was inspired by this picture messages/#/d58g8z7**

* * *

Barbara swung her leg around to kick Dick across the face, only to have him dodge it at the last second and go in for a punch to her gut. She moved out of the way just in time. This training was absolutely pointless. Black Canary always pinned her and Dick against one another, she always reasoned her decision with something about it being the only fair fight for the two of them. This wasn't sparring for them, though; it was more of a game. They were always perfectly in sync with one another and could easily predict what the other's next move would be. Barbara flipped forward to tackle Dick to the ground, but he anticipated it. Before she was even close to him he'd flipped over her and they both stuck their landings. This would be more educational for the Team if they were really sparring instead of putting on a show. If they really did try, though, they'd both come out of it with serious injuries, not to mention Barbara knew how much Dick loved to be in the spotlight every once in a while.

Apparently Dick wanted the show to end, because before Barbara realized he was getting serious he tackled her to the ground. The moment her back hit the ground he had her hands held above her head and his legs were on either side of her body. He wasn't straddling her by any means; it looked more like he was lying on top of her. His body was hovering ever so close to hers and she watched his chest rise and fall rapidly with each breath. The words 'Batgirl Status: Fail' glowed next to her head.

Dick lowered his body to whisper in her ear, "Pinned ya." She could feel his triumphant smirk as he continued breathing into her ear.

She became increasingly aware of the feel of his body against hers and felt a blush creep over her skin. "That better be your utility belt, Nightwing." She whispered low enough for only him, and perhaps Connor, to hear.

It was now her turn to grin triumphantly as she saw red flush on his skin. Someone cleared their throat and the two began to get up. Barbara stood in front of him with her hands on her hips; she understood he needed to use her as a visual shield.

Dick cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, "Good—uh—good spar, Batgirl." he swallowed and gestured towards the showers, "I'm—uh— I'm gonna go get washed up.

He went off running, trying to look as composed as possible. Barbara could still feel the heat on her cheeks and mumbled that she was going to train elsewhere as she walked into the room holding the gym equipment. She found the nearest punching bag and began mercilessly beating it. What happened back there? She went for a right and then left hook. Since when did she and the little Boy Wonder get flustered around one another? She spun around to kick the bag. They'd always playfully flirted, but that didn't actually mean anything. She punched the bag a final time and it split open, spilling its contents onto the floor. Right?

"Jeez, Babs, what'd it ever do to you?"

Barbara turned, slightly startled to see that Dick was less than a foot away from her. A very _wet_ Dick Grayson stood with a towel resting on his hips, his ebony hair clinging to his face and droplets of water falling on his chest in all the right places. He had either set a new record for the fastest shower in history, or she'd been there longer than she'd thought. She was betting it was the latter. Regardless which was the case, seeing him like _this_ was definitely the last thing she needed right now. She stepped over to another punching bag and began hitting it. Just as she was going to hit it with her right hand, Dick reached forward to stop her.

"C'mon, Babs, you've been at this for a while. You should come down and eat with us, M'gann's making sandwiches." he grinned. She relaxed her muscles and nodded, as long as he put some clothes on lunch would be awesome right now.

* * *

The Team sat at the table in their civvies, munching on their sandwiches and trying not to notice the tension in the air. Wally kept snickering and elbowing Dick in the ribs, which earned him a glare that could be felt beyond the sunglasses. Artemis sat in between Wally and Barbara with a knowing look on her face.

"Wally," she said lowly, "if you don't stop one of the Batkids is bound to injure you."

Wally sat back and looked at her with an appalled expression, "Please, these two love me too much."

"I wasn't talking about them." She smirked.

Wally looked across the table to see Tim shaking as he gripped his sandwich tightly. He swallowed nervously and backed down. This was awkward enough for Dick and Barbara, but everyone had forgotten how Tim would feel about this new-found discovery. Wally zipped over to the other side of the table to place a hand on Tim's shoulder. The small teen immediately tensed up. Barbara glared at the speedster with a look that said she'd have his butt on the floor faster than he could think. Wally put up his hands in surrender and Tim excused himself from the table, Barbara soon followed. The Team most likely thought she had gone off to comfort Tim, but today she was being selfish and going off to think for her own sanity's sake.

She made her way to her bedroom and flopped down on her bed, covering her eyes and groaning. There was no way this could happen. She knew that getting into a relationship would mean bad news for both of them; she'd seen Bruce learn it the hard way many times over. Not only was it dangerous for Batgirl and Nightwing, it was dangerous for Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson. Their friendship was so strong and meant so much to each of them; it was what held them together. If that connection between them was ruined, it would hurt both of them deeply. Neither of them would be the same again. She sat up and decided it would be best if she distanced herself from him as much as possible. Maybe that would make these confounded feelings go away.

* * *

It had been a few weeks since their last awkward sparring match, and Barbara could tell it was really starting to bother Dick that she hardly spoke to him during that time. Their fighting skills had gotten sloppy and the whole team knew it. Usually they teamed up, always in sync, but ever since Barbara had made her decision this wasn't so. Another thug caught Barbara off guard and hit her in the face. Superboy angrily took care of him for her; he was the last one that needed to be knocked out in order to bring the gang to the police.

"If you're going to do the work sloppy, then don't do it at all." Superboy said to her sharply.

Barbara hugged her arms around her and started to make her way back to the Bioship where almost everyone was already waiting when she felt someone grab her arm, holding her back. She immediately went into a defensive mode until she turned around to see Dick. She knew without seeing through the domino mask that he looked hurt, a frown dragging down his lips.

"Babs," his voice sounded pained, "What's happening to us?"

She sighed, "Nothing that won't resolve itself in time."

"Bullshit." He hissed as he placed his hands on her shoulders, "We never even talked about what happened that day and you've avoided me ever since. That's not like you, Babs. You need to face your problems head on."

She realized how close they were, and how easily she could close the space between them. "I will, Dick, but not today." She whispered with a tremble in her voice.

He took her chin in between his thumb and index finger, tilting her head up. "Why not today?"

"Because, this," she reached up and removed his hand from her chin, "could ruin everything." She walked quietly to the Bioship without another word.

* * *

More weeks had passed and at this point Dick had given up on trying to force Barbara to confront the way she felt and decided to cherish their friendship instead. They were at Wayne Manor alone today and had claimed that it would be a movie day for the both of them. It took a lot of debating and nearly a physical fight, but the two had finally decided to watch the collection of Twilight Zone DVDs that Tim had gotten Barbara for Christmas. Before they did that, however, they got a craving for cookies and were currently busy making them.

"Ohmigod, Dick, be careful! You're going to splatter the batter everywhere!" Barbara giggled. Dick had just attempted to put the beater into the bowl of batter, spraying some on Barbara's cheek.

"Please, I'm the original Boy _Wonder_, remember? I can do anything." He smiled, "Including make a simple dessert like chocolate chip cookies." Before he could even meet the beater to the batter again Barbara swiftly took it from him. "Babs!" he whined, "How am I supposed to make the batter now!"

"The old fashioned way." She smirked as she placed a wooden spoon in his hand. Their fingers touched briefly and she tried to jerk away. Her escape was put to a stop when Dick reached his other arm around her to pull her closer.

"Babs . . ." His speech was slightly husky and definitely had a hint of pleading.

She stared into his sapphire eyes, absolutely terrified of what she might do. They both became increasingly conscious of one another's breathing, as it was now the only noise in the room. She could feel her heart rate pick up, her stomach felt like it was doing flips. _He's your best friend Babs, _she thought to herself as she tried to fight everything her body was telling her to do, _don't do it._ It didn't matter; the battle was lost as their lips met. In the moments they desperately kissed, trying to get closer to one another as they dropped the spoon to the floor, every caution, every logical thought about how dangerous this was left their minds. It had been painfully obvious since the day of that spar that this moment was inevitable, and neither of them wanted to worry about what it meant at that moment. They eventually pulled apart from one another with heavy breathing, their arms still wrapped around one another.

"So," Dick finally spoke, "what does this mean?"

"It means," Barbara rested her head on his forehead, "that we are never going to be the same again."

"I hope that's a good thing."

"Me too, Dick." The conversation was sealed in another kiss, one that said they'd work it out no matter what it would take.

* * *

**Please R&R! Thank You!**


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